Sunday, April 1, 2012

More Bento Adventures

So I've been having fun creating more bento lunches for my Not-So-Little-Man. Lately, it' s been difficult making the time with my Handsome Hubby out of town intermittently, but I've managed to make a few more lunches a little exciting.

So my first offering included an idea I found where I spiral spaghetti noodles into a "nest" shape. I then cut a hard-boiled egg to look cracked open and added a carrot beak and top as well as little nori eyes. I hadn't been to the grocery store in over a week, so I was low on lunch supplies, so I wrapped a piece of string cheese in a few slices of ham. If I were trying to be fancy, I could call it a deconstructed sandwich... I added some spinach, sweet peppers and a rice ball. I put a cheese cut out on the rice ball and made a carrot shooting star for some fun.

My next offering was a leftover hodge podge. I made my pasta fritatta and cut it into strips, added the rest of my roasted brussel sprouts, asparagus, and sweet peppers. I filled the rest of the space with cheese and crackers. For dessert, I used almonds, fruit leather, mandarin orange sections and a half apple. Now, I'm especially proud of this apple. I saw it on a bento site and wanted to give it a try. I was surprised at how easy it was. I scored the peel with a paring knife in a criss-cross pattern. Once I did that, I just pulled away the peel with my knife in a checkerboard pattern. Super easy and my Not-So-Little-Man loved it.

I'm finding that making bento lunches is not something I can maintain on a daily basis over an extended period of time while I'm working full time outside my home. But it is something I can do a couple of times a week. My son love it and it makes him feel extra-special that I took the time to do it. I'll take advantage of this while I can. Because I know that there will be a time when these little touches won't be wanted for fear of not looking "cool". ﻿